ZD30 and biodiesel

[Navie Oiler]

As the cost of petro diesel continues to climb I have had to resort to research. Bio diesel in whatever % maybe the way to go. Has anyone had any luck running a direct injection diesel on bio diesel? BTW I'm in Aussie.

 

[Old.Tony]

Depends on what you mean by "biodiesel".

We bought fuel at Kings Creek Station back in 2010 and it must have been 20% bio, and it was the best fuel I've ever put in the car.

There are some that make their own from cooking oil and properly filtered this isn't a problem as long as it's done right. The scare-mongering by dealers and fuel supply companies that suggest you'll be picking chiko rolls and chunks of battered fish out of your fuel filter is just that - scare-mongering. I even had one of them tell me that "just like in your body, using those cooking-oil-based fuels will cause deposits on the fuel lines like in your arteries and if it's no good for you, it's no good for your car".

I think that's not accurate at all. Commercial biofuels - and carefully produced home-brews probably moreso - should never be an issue in your car.

Diesels were originally designed to run on peanut oil or something like that anyway.

 

[Bruce Brodie]

Depends on what you mean by "biodiesel".

We bought fuel at Kings Creek Station back in 2010 and it must have been 20% bio, and it was the best fuel I've ever put in the car.

There are some that make their own from cooking oil and properly filtered this isn't a problem as long as it's done right. The scare-mongering by dealers and fuel supply companies that suggest you'll be picking chiko rolls and chunks of battered fish out of your fuel filter is just that - scare-mongering. I even had one of them tell me that "just like in your body, using those cooking-oil-based fuels will cause deposits on the fuel lines like in your arteries and if it's no good for you, it's no good for your car".

I think that's not accurate at all. Commercial biofuels - and carefully produced home-brews probably moreso - should never be an issue in your car.

Diesels were originally designed to run on peanut oil or something like that anyway.

I agree to a point but the common rail diesels run at much higher pressure than the old diesels that would run on just about any oil, I purchased a 1000 litre cube of biodiesel for a 2009 Navara and it didn't like it, could noticeably smell the fish n chips, it was harder to start in winter, there could be better brews out there and there used to be some biodiesel garages in Sydney but I haven't been to the Shity for a while.

 

[Rhino1174]

Personally I haven’t tried it however I have a friend who makes it and runs it in a 2015 Land Cruiser he has run it since purchasing this vehicle from new still under warranty the only issue that the dealer helped with was they put an extra heater in the return line to the tank we live in Tasmania and he frequented the highlands in winter and when temps got below freezing the engine seemed to struggle a little and they worked out the fuel was getting a little thick causing backup in line so extra fuel heater in return line sorted otherwise ecu changes itself obviously to compensate air/fuel according to normal sensor requirements

 

[Old.Tony]

Mine's a 2009 D40 YD25, it handled the commercial biodiesel well, I haven't tried (and probably won't) making my own.

If you can smell fish and chips in the fuel, chances are it needs a little more filtering.

As for the home brew in Tasmania - dinosaur diesel forms waxy deposits in cold weather and most service stations in those areas (and surrounds) will sell "alpine" diesel which has an additive to reduce wax formation. I wonder if the same additive will help the home brew?

You can buy the additive in stores like Supercheap, Repco etc - Anti-parrafin or something like that.

 

[Bruce Brodie]

Mine's a 2009 D40 YD25, it handled the commercial biodiesel well, I haven't tried (and probably won't) making my own.

If you can smell fish and chips in the fuel, chances are it needs a little more filtering.

As for the home brew in Tasmania - dinosaur diesel forms waxy deposits in cold weather and most service stations in those areas (and surrounds) will sell "alpine" diesel which has an additive to reduce wax formation. I wonder if the same additive will help the home brew?

You can buy the additive in stores like Supercheap, Repco etc - Anti-parrafin or something like that.

The fish n chips smell was coming out the exhaust, I've followed other diesels and smelt the same, it's funny, you start looking around for a fish n chips shop but heard that Avgas which is just refined Kero works well in alpine regions.

 

[Boogieboots]

I can vouch for the filtering. I made my own and did a **** job of filtering it before a trip from Perth to Esperance. 10 litres of free fuel cost me a $50 fuel filter when I tried around 15 years ago.
Very cool experiment, but clean it up for sure

 

[Rhino1174]

Mine's a 2009 D40 YD25, it handled the commercial biodiesel well, I haven't tried (and probably won't) making my own.

If you can smell fish and chips in the fuel, chances are it needs a little more filtering.

As for the home brew in Tasmania - dinosaur diesel forms waxy deposits in cold weather and most service stations in those areas (and surrounds) will sell "alpine" diesel which has an additive to reduce wax formation. I wonder if the same additive will help the home brew?

You can buy the additive in stores like Supercheap, Repco etc - Anti-parrafin or something like that.

I’m not sure what he puts in it additive wise just know he had Toyota do the modifications to it as it was giving very poor performance in very cold conditions and that is how they fixed it I’m not convinced myself I want to even try it in my d40 to be honest as what it just cost me for the replacement engine I had installed I not prepared to save a couple dollars on good fuel for possibly damage to anything just my two cents worth

 

[Old.Tony]

I’m not sure what he puts in it additive wise just know he had Toyota do the modifications to it as it was giving very poor performance in very cold conditions and that is how they fixed it I’m not convinced myself I want to even try it in my d40 to be honest as what it just cost me for the replacement engine I had installed I not prepared to save a couple dollars on good fuel for possibly damage to anything just my two cents worth

I'll just add here that even dinosaur-derived diesel requires the anti-waxing additive in colder climates. Like yours, for 8-10 months of the year!

 

[Erick]

Be very, very careful about bio diesel. When made properly and run in older mechanical pump engines it can be ok. But I have seen and experienced it eat fuel ines, clog up pumps, strip paint from anything it touched if made badly. Cost the guy on a farm I help out on thousands in the end. Lucky for him the machinery was old and cheap to work on, price of anything to do with injection systems on newer vehicles is scary. People forget how much money and rigorous processes are spent on making the stuff we pump into our vehicles and take for granted mostly

 

[robunhill]

I went down this path years ago , ran modified vehicles on straight vege oil after years on biodiesel.